In the new energy vehicle market in 2021, in addition to traditional brands and new car-making forces, Internet manufacturers have also begun to pour in. Although the three of them have different progress, they are tit-for-tat, and the smell of gunpowder is getting stronger and stronger. At the same time, another new force is also surging undercurrents, and it is the digital brand that hides around everyone.
Last year, Xiaomi took the lead in issuing cards and announced that it had officially entered the field of car manufacturing; and although Huawei repeatedly announced that it would not build cars, it was getting closer and closer to car companies. Entering 2022, Sony preemptively attacked, and at the international consumer electronics show (CES 2022) two days ago, Sony Chairman, President and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida announced that sony mobility inc. The division is expected to be established this spring, after which it will focus mainly on the commercialization of electric vehicles. Kenichiro Yoshida said: "We are exploring the commercialization of Sony electric vehicles. This also means that Sony has officially entered the field of car manufacturing.
Sony's entry into the field of car manufacturing, is it forced or premeditated?
In fact, as early as January 2020, Sony officially released its first pure electric concept model VISION-S. Subsequently, in July 2020, Sony China also released a picture of the VISION-S pure electric concept car through the official Weibo with copywriting: "Come on, try to test for a driver's license!" ”
This series of operations has made many netizens think that Sony is also going to enter the car industry. However, sony group responded at the time: the company is committed to the development of autonomous driving technology, and plans to test the technology in 2020. Vision-S is only to show off the technology, Sony has no intention of building a car.
Vision-S project leader Izumi Kawanishi said in an interview with foreign media that Sony will not become an automobile manufacturer, but is committed to becoming a driving force for change in the automobile industry.
Like Huawei today, the earlier Sony did not admit that it would enter the field of car manufacturing. However, from 2020 onwards, Sony has begun to explore the field of mobility. In less than a year, Sony began to decline in its main business. As one of the world's largest electronics manufacturers, Sony's earlier main businesses included games and network services, music, movies, SIPS (image-related), CMOS processors and semiconductors. However, with the development of 5G technology in recent years, Sony's main business has also been impacted.
In Sony's 2021 Q1 financial report, shipments of the PS4 were down 1.4 million units from 1.9 million units in the same period last fiscal year. PS5 and PS4 gaming software sold 63.6 million units in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020, down 27.8 million units from 91.4 million units sold in the same period last fiscal year. In addition, in the second quarter of fiscal 2021, the profit earned by Sony Group also decreased by 54% year-on-year.
The maturity of 5G technology and cloud networks has made Sony's main industry encounter a ceiling. At this time, it is the time for the digital circle to promote the field of military vehicles, which is an excellent entry point for Sony, which masters core technologies such as audio-visual entertainment, semiconductors, and sensors. Therefore, Sony's entry into the field of car manufacturing is more like the right time to meet the right choice, which seems to be just right.
Sony's entry into the field of car manufacturing, what are the advantages?
For digital companies, the biggest advantage in entering the field of car manufacturing may be concentrated in the intelligent level. For a "digital bigwig" like Sony, it has its own innate advantages in visual perception and processing. Because as of now, more than 50% of the CMOS sensor technology of camera equipment distributed around the world comes from Sony, and image processing chips and semiconductors are the necessary hardware for smart electric vehicles.
Therefore, after the release of VISION-S in 2020, Sony launched a public road test in Europe in December, mainly to verify the safety of the image and sensing technology installed inside and outside the car and the user experience of the human-machine interface (HMI) system, and conducted a 5G environmental driving test in April 2021.
On the model on display at CES 2022, 40 sensors are installed around the body, including CMOS image sensors and lidar sensors. The VISION-S system hopes to be able to combine the car audio system and the human-machine interface system to achieve intuitive driving interaction, so that the driver can accurately judge the surrounding environment from the car, and it is expected that the L2+ level advanced driver assistance system for open roads can be realized.
From the perspective of the smart cockpit, which is another aspect of intelligence, it is more like Sony's best play. In terms of sony's good entertainment functions, VISION-S will provide car owners with three-dimensional spatial sound field seat speakers, as well as 360 immersive sound compatible streaming services, to provide a high-quality video experience, VISION-S will also include a fully integrated digital video service function "Bravia CORE for VISION-S".
In addition, the car game function is also one of its highlights. Owners can play PlayStation games on demand by remotely connecting to a game console in their home, as well as enjoying an online gaming experience through the cloud.
Finally, at the design level, the front face of the new car adopts the same design language as the concept car, and the closed grille with the through-line daily running light style is more exquisite; the rear part of the car adopts a through-led tail light group, and the rear part uses the roof slip back and the tail upturned duck tail shape. In terms of interior, the overall design of the new car is relatively simple, the central control adopts a through-channel triple screen design, and the new car is equipped with large wheels, hidden door handles and electronic exterior mirrors in the configuration.
Of course, in addition to the advantages at the product level, the aura of the Sony brand also has a certain blessing for its entry into the field of car manufacturing. For a long time, Sony's digital products have been all over people's lives. For the Sony brand, a certain fixed fan has been formed, and this part of the group does not completely overlap with the users of traditional car brands, which is also the opportunity for Sony to build cars.